During the recent U.S. midterm elections, Americans voted on a wide range of ballot measures in their states on issues such as abortion, voting rights, and slavery in prisons.

The Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe v. Wade put abortion on a number of ballot measures. Five states —  California, Kentucky, Michigan, Montana, and Vermont — chose to support abortion access. In California, Michigan, and Vermont, voters added the right to an abortion to their state constitutions. In Kentucky and Montana, voters rejected ballot measures that would have further restricted abortion — despite having Republican-led legislatures in both states.

The widespread — and false — claims of voter fraud in previous elections prompted intense scrutiny of voting rights. Voters in four out of six states expanded their voting laws, or rejected voting restrictions. Connecticut, Michigan, and Arizona expanded voting access, while Nevada opened primaries to all voters. Nebraska and Ohio limited voting access. 

A number of states voted to remove all language from their constitutions that allowed slavery to be used as a punishment for a crime. The U.S. Constitution technically still permits slavery to be used as a punishment, but Alabama, Oregon, Tennessee, and Vermont voted to ban slavery in all contexts, although Louisiana voted against a ban.

Countries on the front lines of climate change are fighting for a “loss and damage” recovery fund at this week’s COP27 climate summit in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt, which would compensate them for natural disasters. Leaders from developing countries that have been the worst impacted by global warming, while contributing the least emissions — including Pakistan, Egypt, and Barbados — are asking developed, high-emissions countries to pay for their climate damages. In response, leaders from Austria, Ireland, Scotland, Germany, Belgium, and Denmark pledged millions of dollars in funding. 

The debate over who will pay the skyrocketing bill for climate damages isn’t new — the idea was first proposed in 1991, by Pacific island nation Vanuatu. But this is the first year the issue has been put on the official COP agenda. That may be because of the rising amount of research quantifying who is responsible for climate change. That includes data showing that 23 rich countries are responsible for 50% of all carbon dioxide emissions since 1850 (vs. the 150 countries responsible for the other half). Studies also model how climate-related deaths will increase more rapidly in poorer countries than wealthier ones.

The issue has become a matter of urgency: on the first day of the summit, the World Meteorological Organization reported that the last eight years are on track to be the hottest ever recorded.

Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva’s victory over incumbent President Jair Bolsonaro in Brazil’s presidential runoff election may have a huge impact on saving the Amazon rainforest. The Amazon, the largest rainforest on Earth and an important carbon sink, has lost 17% of its area to deforestation since the 1970s. More than half of the Amazon (60%) is in Brazil, causing some environmental advocates to say Brazil’s election marks a turning point for the rainforest.

Under Jair Bolsonaro’s presidential term, environmental protections were weakened while activities like illegal mining and man-made fires increased. Between 2019 and 2021, the Amazon lost more than 34,000 square km (8.4 million acres) — an area larger than Belgium. The loss was a 52% increase over the amount of deforestation three years prior.

Conversely, Lula pledged during his campaign to fight for zero deforestation. If he keeps his campaign promise, some analysts predict he could curb rainforest loss by 89% by 2030. During his previous terms, deforestation fell by about 70%. But whether Lula can reduce rainforest loss to zero also depends on Congress, which is now dominated by Bolsonaro’s party.